A blog for anyone who needs to know they are not alone in raising a bipolar child.

About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.

Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Mother-Daughter Trip Interrupted by Virus

I took our youngest Mae away to a nearby city for a night so we could have some special mommy-daughter time to ourselves. I always do this with each of my daughters when they get to about the age of 11 to talk about the upcoming changes of adolescence and have some bonding time over manicures or shopping or whatever. Feeling the urgency to undertake this adventure sooner rather than later as Mae is rapidly developing, I made a last minute decision to go this past weekend, grabbing a great online deal on a hotel near a fun shopping area. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to us, our family had acquired the dreaded 24 hour stomach flu before we left. Mae spent the entire night away throwing up and continued through the morning, even in the car on the way home. And Jane started throwing up while we were gone, so I came home to another sick kid and a lot of dirty laundry and bathrooms to clean. Oh well. We will press the reset button and do it again later in the spring or early summer. Lesson learned: skip weekend trips in January and February during the height of the virus season. The risk hasn't been worth it!

Present Medications

I am listing our daughter's medications because I know a lot of my followers would be interested in comparing notes, especially those just starting out on this journey. We started with just one medication, Trileptal, seven years ago. This ballooning to several meds is typical. Most bp kids end up needing at least one atypical anti-pyschotic, and one to two mood stabilizers, and often a sleep aid.